Negev Coexistence Forum for Civil Equality
פורום דו-קיום בנגב לשוויון אזרחי
منتدى التعايش السلمي في النقب من أجل المساواة المدنية
Homeowners to pay the full cost of demolition
17.07.2011
Member of Knesset, Dr. Hana Sweid, today advised the Negev Coexistence Forum for Civil Equality (NCF) that a proposed bill will see the full costs of home demolitions imposed on homeowners and that this will in effect apply predominately to Arabs and Bedouin within the internationally recognized borders of the State of Israel. The bill was recently approved by the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee of the Knesset and is expected to be presented to the Knesset plenum sometime next week for the second and third reading.
Under the existing law, only the court has the authority to issue a demolition order coupled with an order for the cost of the operation to be incurred by the homeowner.
This proposed amendment, however, concerns the second type of demolition order, that is, those issued by the head of the Planning Committee and known as Administrative Demolition Orders. Presently, the head of the Planning Committee is not authorized to impose the cost of the demolition upon the homeowner.
The proposed amendment, however, will enable the head of the Planning Court to seek an order from the court that the owner be held responsible for the full demolition expenses.
The costs of demolition can range from the clerical work involved, to the cost of the police force to secure the demolition, to the trucks and bulldozers. Such expenses will undoubtedly amount to tens of thousands of shekels for a single demolition and hundreds of demolitions occur each year in the Negev. It is well known that the socio-economic status of the Bedouin is already the lowest in the country with a majority of families living well below the official poverty line. If approved, this law will have a debilitating and tangible effect on a community that is already struggling to live in dignity.
Additionally, the NCF further learnt that as a result of intervention by MK Ze’ev Elkin (Likud), this amendment will not apply in the Occupied Territories with respect to the demolition of outposts established by Jewish settlers. This reveals the true objective of the proposal—to further oppress the Bedouin population in the Negev which faces the constant threat of demolition.
The NCF asserts that this proposed law in effect discriminates on the basis of race and thus contravenes domestic anti-discrimination laws and the International Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination to which Israel is a signatory.
It was reported in March 2011, that the state was preparing a legal petition for more than 1 million NIS against the residents of Al Arakib for the repeated demolition of the village.
If passed, this amendment will only serve to further deepen the structural discrimination faced by the Negev Bedouin and must not be tolerated.
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